They would ask me what actors I saw in the roles. I would tell them, and they’d say “Oh that’s interesting.” And that would be the end of it.
--Elmore Leonard, in 2000, on the extent of his input for Hollywood's adaptation of his novels

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Nicole Trilivas's "Girls Who Travel"

Nicole Trilivas has a deep appetite for travel and adventure and has visited over thirty countries and every continent except Antarctica (but it’s on her list). A graduate of Boston University, she has worked in advertising, and her writing has appeared in the New York Times online, Huffington Post, xoJane, Wanderlust, Paste, Thought Catalog, and elsewhere. She lives in New York and London.

When I was writing the character of Kika Shores, I was picturing “it” girl and model, Cara Delevingne. I had never heard her speak in real life, but she gave me the perfect visual base to project my Kika on to. Cara's quirky facial expressions and wafting sense of joie de vivre seemed like a great template to start with, and I just built up from there.

I could never find the perfect person to portray Lochlon, but in my mind’s eye, I know exactly what he looks like: pale skin, dark hair, green eyes and scuff--not to mention a sexy accent.

For Aston Hyde-Bettencourt, I was picturing the folk musician, Johnny Flynn. Whenever Aston entered a scene that I was writing, I would hear the first few notes of Johnny Flynn’s tune, "The Box" start playing in my hear.

Elsbeth Darling would be played by Real Housewives of Orange County’s Heather Dubrow.

Gwen and Mina would have to be newbie actresses with no professional training.

Oh, this is getting me excited! I would love it if Girls Who Travel would be made into a movie.

“Compared to a novel, a film is like an economy pizza where there are no olives, no ham, no anchovies, no mushrooms, and all you’ve got is the dough.”
--Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin